Private companies among Odfjell Drilling Ltd.'s (OB:ODL) largest shareholders, saw gain in holdings value after stock jumped 5.0% last week

Key Insights

• Odfjell Drilling's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
• The largest shareholder of the company is Odfjell Partners Ltd with a 60% stake
• Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

Every investor in Odfjell Drilling Ltd. (OB:ODL) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 60% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Clearly, private companies benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by kr671m last week.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Odfjell Drilling.

Check out our latest analysis for Odfjell Drilling

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Odfjell Drilling?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

Odfjell Drilling already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Odfjell Drilling's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Odfjell Drilling. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Odfjell Partners Ltd with 60% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is the second largest shareholder owning 1.8% of common stock, and FMR LLC holds about 1.0% of the company stock.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Odfjell Drilling

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. Not all jurisdictions have the same rules around disclosing insider ownership, and it is possible we have missed something, here. So you can click here learn more about the CEO.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 34% stake in Odfjell Drilling. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 60%, of the Odfjell Drilling stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Odfjell Drilling (2 are concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com